Tag: cathedral

The devastating fire in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was horrific in the way that it touched the heart and soul of Parisian, the French and many of us around the world. This cathedral is a true world treasure in both its architecture and the meaning that it carries, which transcends faith. I am heartened by President Emmanel Macron’s response with the intent to rebuild Notre Dame, as it is part of the heritage of France and, indeed, the World.

With this news, it was immediately obvious to me that the theme for this week’s challenge is to be Worship. Regardless of religion, faith or belief system, we can all worship; whether it’s a universal being, nature or the love of our life… Please take this challenge into the direction of Worship that speaks most to you and share it creatively!

I very much look forward to your responses to this theme, as I hope you are as inspired as I am by how humanity can respond to adversity and achieve ever greater heights!

Here’s a cathedral that faced fires during its time…

Elgin Cathedral

The Elgin Cathedral originates from 1224 and was ravaged by fire on 3 occasions in 1270, 1390 and 1402. It came back time and again until the time of the Scottish Reformation in 1560, after which it was abandoned. After the lead waterproofing was removed from the roof in 1567, it decayed steadily until its roof collapsed during a storm in 1637; deterioration continued over the centuries… Despite its current state, one can feel the power of this site when walking its grounds; it’s impressive!

The full rules of this challenge are in TPC Guidelines, but here’s the tl;dr:

Create a pingback link to this post, so that I can create a post showing all of the submissions over the week (note: pingbacks may not appear immediately, as my site is set up to require approval for linking to it; helps against previous bad experiences with spamming)

As I photographed quite a bit while in Scotland, I thought I’d once again dip into my pool of images from that 2013 vacation.

Elgin Cathedral

After leaving the Inverness area, our next Bed and Breakfast was in Braemar in the Highlands. As we hadn’t planned a specific route, our decision was to follow the A96 a bit and see when we’d turn south.

As we got to Elgin, I suggested that we make a stop somewhere to break up the drive; not knowing that we’d find the amazing Elgin Cathedral right in our path! The grounds of this cathedral are not only stunning, as can be seen in the above image, but they are also overflowing with the spiritual energy that has collected here throughout the ages. If you are sensitive to these energies, you can’t help but be touched at a large number of locations on the grounds.

Additionally, the structure is visually stunning, and, considering that construction started in the first half of the 1200s, one can’t help but be amazed by the advanced building techniques that existed to build such precise arches. Its rich history is detailed further on the History Scotland – Elgin Cathedral web page.

Technical Details

This image was captured with a Canon EOS 5D Mk III with a 17-40 f/4L lens attached. Settings for this image were f/10 with 1/400 second at 400 ISO.

Bonus Coverage

A second image from this cathedral taken from the top of the North tower, which is precipitous…

From on high!

Note that this gives an excellent view of the area, with the river Lossie just behind the cathedral.